Re: DEBIAN REPOSITORIES FOR UBUNTU DAPPER ?

sai ram wrote:
Dear Friends! I use Ubuntu Dapper Drake (on x86 pc) and wanted to install "isomaster" software package about which I read in a linux magazine. As this package was unavailable in my synaptic package manager with Ubuntu repositories, I downloaded the package from Debian website.
While attempting the installation, I encountered dependency errors. I believe these errors can be overcome by adding appropriate Debian repositories to the etc/apt/sources.list file of my Ubuntu OS.

Please

(1) clarify if I can have both Ubuntu repositories and debian repositories enabled at the same time ?
(2) Do I need any key to access the Debian repositories ?
(3) give me the exact debian package source location lines, that I need to add to my etc/sources.list file, so I can henceforth install packages from Debian repositories without any dependency errors.

sai ram:
Some details of the wording of your questions indicate a serious misunderstanding of the relationship between Ubuntu and Debian. For each question there are several terse, and accurate, answers that are also seriously misleading. Ubuntu and Debian are both more than an operating system. Each is also an organization of people who have joined together to achieve common goals. For these two organizations, the goals are similar, but not identical. For example, neither organization makes any
promise that its software packages will work safely when loaded into a
computer that is running the other OS. And neither collection of people makes any claim to even know what will happen if you try. A lot
of work goes into packaging each piece of software in the Debian repository so that the install process fixes all the picky details of getting that software to install properly *on*a*Debian*host*. Only some
packages, where the maintainer happens to be interested in both Debian
and Ubuntu, are tested in any way for the other OS. And where the maintainer does work on both OSs, (s)he probably doesn't produce a single package that simply works on both. Rather (s)he produces a single set of package construction source code that when run though the package generation software turns out two different packages, one for Ubuntu and one for Debian.

So to your questions:
(1) clarify if I can have both Ubuntu repositories and debian repositories enabled at the same time?
You can have both repositories enabled by having more lines in your sources.list, some for Debian and some for Ubuntu. It is not difficult, but it will lead to grief, because you are mistaken in you faith that the two will work together nicely, and there is nothing that the members of either community can do to help make it work nicely.

(2) Do I need any key to access the Debian repositories ?
Yes. It is available as a package in the Debian repository. Installing it might conflict with Ubuntu key installation. I don't know, but I'm
pretty sure both organizations use similar techniques for key distribution and have given little thought to making the system work when working on a different OS that plays by the similar rules.

(3) give me the exact debian package source location lines, that I need to add to my etc/sources.list file, so I can henceforth install packages from Debian repositories without any dependency errors.

There is a long list of local mirrors of the master Debian repositories available in the Debian web site (www.debian.org). The easiest way to find an appropriate Debian repository mirror is to follow the directions for installing Debian on a separate partition on your computer.

A general remark: I have never worked with Ubuntu, but I have the impression that a major goal of Ubuntu is to make computer use 'easy' for non-experts. By contrast, my impression of Debian is that a major goal of Debian is to make life easier for a sysadmin of a small to mid-size enterprise, eg a public school system, a small college, a mid-size business, etc.

Part of making life easier for sysadmins is helping them become more expert at their job. To this end, the more expert followers of this list try to give polite answers to questions however ill-formed they seem to be. In contrast, making things easy for users leads to answers that tend to hide the real complexity of a situation.

If you really feel that you need to ask questions on this list, it indicates, to me, that you perceive the answers available here are somehow more informative than the answers on a corresponding Ubuntu list. But you can't really validate the answers you get here unless you have a Debian system on which to test them. So, install Debian in a separate partition. Continue to use Ubuntu as much as you wish, but don't mix the two until you are confident that you are expert in both.

HTH begin:vcard
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n:;Paul E Condon
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end:vcard

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